I just want to state up front that the end results in the systems you and I are proposing don't really amount to much. The base assumption holds - and is exactly what Bungie said. Increasing attack power increases damage against high level mobs. That being said, I've included my reasoning below as to why I like a system where attack power modifies defense below. I probably won't spend too much time on this discussion because it is like arguing that milk should be purchased from a corner store vs. a supermarket. In the end you still get milk - and how is probably less important than the end result.
Spoiler tags for those who don't want to read my reasoning.
There are several things which make it very unlikely for attack power to be the base damage for a weapon. The major ones in my opinion are:
I specifically dislike the idea that mobs carry around their own modifier tables to get damage for specific guns right. Instead, I think it is far simpler to believe that each gun type has a base damage that is modified by impact rating. This damage is then modified by a class of modifiers that are not weapon specific. For example:
Note that the end result will be the same with either model. Just from a simplicity perspective, I think the model where attack power modifies defense ends up being much cleaner than trying to treat it as base gun damage.
- It would mean ALL weapons have the same base damage. IE, a rocket launcher has the same base damage as a auto rifle. They do have the same attack power. As a matter of fact, the attack value ratings are all set by weapon level class (uncommon, rare, legendary, exotic).
- It makes each mob have to carry a table of weapon damage modifiers that vary depending on weapon type. Take for instance auto rifles. Weapon damage varies greatly from mob to mob and from subclass of autorifle (shinegan vs galahad). You do less damage on legionnaires than you do on flayers. You do less damage to a captain than you do to an dreg. And so forth. All of these damage changes could be explained if mobs have armor and it affects outgoing damage. It becomes much more difficult if you try to remove that concept.
- The scaling is not purely linear, nor is it consistent across mob type. To do this mathematically, you would end up creating impact lookup tables to try and modify each gun correctly.
- There is a "cap" of benefit you get from attack power, even on 20+ mobs. On level 20 mobs for instance, raising attack power ceases to benefit you against certain mobs.
I specifically dislike the idea that mobs carry around their own modifier tables to get damage for specific guns right. Instead, I think it is far simpler to believe that each gun type has a base damage that is modified by impact rating. This damage is then modified by a class of modifiers that are not weapon specific. For example:
- Defense / Attack Power. These two combine to a single term that reduces damage until defense is 0. Simple equation, and only requires setting defense per mob. Gives all the demonstrated effects even against low level monsters.
- Crit value. This is basically a set multiplier per gun from what I've seen. It doesn't need to change per monster type because the differences can be explained via defense / attack power.
- Level. We know that damage is scaled down when you are below the level of a monster. It is reasonable to think that there may be some scaling for mob level as well.
Note that the end result will be the same with either model. Just from a simplicity perspective, I think the model where attack power modifies defense ends up being much cleaner than trying to treat it as base gun damage.
! Looks like I am playing it wrong !
